BY: JOEY REAMS
Several well-known musicians are coming together to create an album-length tribute to Velvet Underground & Nico, the iconic debut album that eventually became one of the greatest albums of all time. Contributors for this tribute album include Michael Stipe, Iggy Pop, St. Vincent, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Courtney Barnett, the National’s Matt Berninger, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, Thurston Moore, Bobby Gillespie, and Fontaines D.C. The tribute album will be titled I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico and is due Sept. 24 via Verve. Before the release, you can listen to Kurt Vile’s cover of “Run Run Run,” which was recorded both on the road and during the pandemic. Check out the full tracklist of the tribute album below.
“Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground were probably my earliest classic rock influence,” Vile told Rolling Stone regarding his cover of “Hypnotic.” “I loved it. The first time I heard them, I’m sure I was probably stoned. When you hear music like that, so organic and raw, but you know, so confident, all those things combined, [it’s] so cool. So unapologetic. It just has an effect on you that you can’t even necessarily detect at the moment.”
I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico:
01 Michael Stipe: “Sunday Morning”
02 Matt Berninger: “I’m Waiting for the Man”
03 Sharon Van Etten with Angel Olsen: “Femme Fatale”
04 Andrew Bird / Lucius: “Venus in Furs”
05 Kurt Vile & The Violators: “Run Run Run”
06 St. Vincent / Thomas Bartlett: “All Tomorrow’s Parties”
07 Thurston Moore: “Heroin” [ft. Bobby Gillespie]
08 King Princess: “There She Goes Again”
09 Courtney Barnett: “I’ll Be Your Mirror”
10 Fontaines D.C.: “The Black Angel’s Song of Death”
11 Iggy Pop / Matt Sweeney: “European Son”